Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Why I Love the Neptunia Series

After having an open talk with my friend Aaron this morning on Twitter I realized that there needs to be some clarification as to why I recommend, and back the Neptunia series/franchise. The series itself is undoubtedly notorious for including sexual images of younger looking female characters, and I know that does not sit well with some people. It is understandable, and I'm not trying to defend such artistic practices as that sort of moe, and loli inspired creative direction does weigh heavily on morals. I will say in the game's defense though (for those who can look beyond the girl-on-girl perversion) that it holds value in it's storytelling. As I've said many times before the series is tied to, and reflects our own gaming industry happenings. Whether it be the console wars of old, or the copyright issues of today everything is discussed in a between the lines kind of fashion. That's why I fell in love with the series. That and the hyper-stylized anime combat. As far as the perverted side goes it is there, and to a varying degree, but if you can look past it 90% of the story, and gameplay overshadows the few images, and innuendo placed within. You do have to be willing to look beyond something so outstanding in nature though.

Where the true moral dilemma lies in regards to the Neptunia series is with the person thinking about playing, or buying said games. If there is an inner moral conflict going on in your heart and soul, and you feel like you might be tempted or corrupted by such material then the series is absolutely not for you. Avoid it like the plague. If you are like me, however, and can look past the obvious pokes of perversion then you'll be able to pay attention to what matters. That being the story elements, and the action packed battles contained within. In seeing things from both sides of the fence I fully understand the downside of such content being put into games though. The 'Moe', and 'Loli' culture isn't exactly a positive thing due to the physical attraction to girls presented in said anime/games. It's not something I support personally (and that's coming from a guy who reviews adult flesh flicks on the side), and it is something that I could see being harmful if presented to the wrong person/s. Thankfully there are laws, and ratings in place to keep games from falling into such a person's possession.

When it comes to the sexual side of the Neptunia games what you'll mostly see is near nudes of the older looking female characters in image stills as well as towel covered images of the younger females in the same static images. Of course there are also some suggestive battle poses in battle that really focus on the Neptunia girls' bodies as well. That paired with their skimpy Goddess outfits might be offensive to some. Along with the sexualized visuals come text, or dialogue based innuendo that only adults, or older teens will likely pick up on. Some of said text, and dialogue is censored though leaving the perversion of the remark or statement up to the gamers' interpretation. Again, all of this is something that you'll either take to heart, or ignore depending on what your moral standards are.

As for me I still love Neptunia, and it's lively characters. I love the story they are a part of, and how it relates to the goings on of the real world gaming industry. I love the developers' interpretation of said events, and how well they are applied. I also love the combat, especially when it comes down to the boss fights. There's definitely a lot of good qualities in the game, that in my opinion drown out the more perverse side of the same metaphorical coin. It could be different for you though, and I'll leave that judgement in your hands. I'm not here to persuade you one way or the other. I'm merely stating the facts in regards to myself, and the Neptunia series.

I hope you got something out of this post, and that if you feel inclined to comment that you do so. I won't have any hard feelings if you think differently than me so long that you don't bash me for liking the game. We all have our opinions, and at the end of the day said opinions (based on fact or not) are all about personal preference. What one person might deem worthy may be garbage to someone else.

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